If through your behavioral choices you cease to be a beneficial member of society, becoming a detriment, a harm, by violating any one of the necessary love-conditions in the world around you. These are:

Acceptance of who people truly are without threat to their emotional boundaries.

Acknowledging sovereignty of others, without threatening their free-will or liberty.

Adequate resources to preserve good health, without threatening survival.

A means of personal expression, and being heard as a being of dignity and worth, without threatening their sense of value within society.

Security and privacy, safety from physical harm.

Acting with authenticity, that you and your actions are exactly what you present them to be without ulterior motive or any attempt to exploit others.

Trust in your perception of your environment and those around you, as offering you the same consideration that you offer others. (You can see more about this subject on my Divine Love blog .)

If you witness any violation of the above love conditions and through apathy, or neglect of your responsibility, you do nothing to stop someone from harming others or the world around them, then you are choosing to be part of the problem, not a benefit. Example: If you hear violence against your neighbor, call the police.

Query: What lessons do you offer us through “Don’t Be the Asshole”
Highest Divine Guidance speaks to how we are to apply attention to our outer relationships in society.Card: XV The Devil In the realm of thought, Divine asks us to dismiss what we think we know and begin to WONDER about our shadow sides, our wants and desires, our lusty, ego-centric needs, and find a healthy way to express and explore that side of ourselves. Why are we demonized? Begin to wonder how we can express our vitality while remaining practical and grounded.Card: Knight of Cups In the realm of will, we are asked to apply the full force of our Will, our passions, and drive, to a harvest of emotional maturity, to Spiritual relationships in a community of like-minds, and to achieving higher emotional planes and mutual understanding.Card: 9 of Swords, Cruelty In the realm of emotion, Divine directs us to ACCEPTthe reality that when you are the asshole you are being cruel to yourself, heartless, and it is just a form of self-denigration. You are sabotaging yourself and must stop this behavior pattern. “Rule #1: Don’t burn the Witch,” including yourself.Card: 8 of Wands, Swiftness In the realm of the physical, we are asked to HOLD THE SPACE, to BE SILENT and observant, paying attention to the subtle manifestations of our goals. Allow swift communication to overcome misunderstandings and hindrances. Nothing is in your way to attain your goals; move quickly. Adapt to change; define where you stand; your openness and self-confidence will open hearts.Card: 10 of Disks, Wealth Highest Divine Guidance asks you to interact with your community knowing that you will attract to yourself everyone and every situation in your life–that you create your reality. The wealth of the Universe is in your hands and its yours to do with as you like, but the responsibility is yours. If you share this wealth openly with others you will be endlessly wealthy. Make your inner wealth visible and share that with others. This brings to mind the Hermetic Principle of Vibration. Like attracts like, dontcha know? Wealth consciousness begets wealth and generous interactions with others. Asshole consciousness begets selfishness and a parade of assholery and abuse by others.
This is my interpretation. What do these cards and messages mean to you? How does this message inform how you would apply “Don’t be the Asshole” to your own life?
In gratitude, blessed be.
Stay tuned for the tarot messages for:
Rule #3: Don’t be the Weak Link
Rule #4: Must be Present to Win.

5 thoughts on “Rule #2: Don’t be the Asshole, Tarot Message”

Rule two worries me for some reason. Thus far this is the Jiminy Cricket of the rules.

At what point are we forced to be the asshole? Once again, conflict. When one’s energies are out of balance we can easily become the ass. When we are denied basic needs we can be driven to do unwise things. Out of all the cards, the devil stands out the most to me. I’m not sure if it should be embraced or avoided?

I think this rule worries me because of past Christian influences. The fear of becoming the asshole could be the same as the fear of sin. I’m not saying it is there to whip us onto the path when we are naughty. No, I think I mean to say that it can weigh on someone with a heavy heart. It nudges us back onto the path.

I could analyze this one better if I wasn’t on a smart phone and had more time.

Richard, perhaps it would clarify to say that I do not consider speaking up for yourself, or engaging in “conflict” as necessarily being an asshole. All that depends on *how* you engage. I mean, if you resort to violence or name-calling, that is just a person sinking to asshole level, not rising to hero level. Sometimes we must enter into the fray, or stand-up to someone who we disagree with, defend the boundaries physically, or even express our anger when it is warranted. This doesn’t have to be assholishness, this is responsible living and sometimes that makes us the hero. As long as we ask ourselves if what we are doing is for our own ego’s satisfaction at the expense of others? Is this action in alignment with my Highest Divine Will? Is this action made while maintaining respectful discourse, and honoring the security and sovereignty of our opponent? These are our choices.

As for The Devil card, I think the lesson is that our desires/shadows must be understood and embraced, never tucked away in shame. Personally, I think that witchcraft is a praxis that is meant to save us from “fear” and I do not think that the concept of “sin” has any place within that praxis. This is a difficult transition for any Witch who was raised in an Abrahamic faith. It took me the better part of a decade to throw off that yoke. We NEED this new paradigm of love and to abandon the paradigm of fear.

I often think that it would be nice if we could hit a reset button and eliminate the negative influences of “guilt” religion. It is very hard to remove this from the back of one’s mind. The Christian overtones of our society, and often our families, tend to define our relationship to what is actually personal responsibility. Really, what could be considered a “sin” might actually be more a consequence of one’s actions; the result of these consequences being some sort of karmic event. The Wiccan Reade itself seems to be a call for taking responsibility for one’s own actions, relationships, responsibilities, etc.

Often our egos can be our undoing; thus causing us to disregard our real responsibilities to ourselves and all those around us. Keeping the ego in check seems to be what will often keep us from becoming the asshole. It seems hardest to keep this in check when we are hurt. We can often seek out revenge or satisfaction of some sort. I am wondering if, in the context of the victim, is it right to do this in any way?